Canadian armored vehicle maker develops new MRAP version

A new version of Roshel’s Admiral armored vehicle has surfaced online, and it isn’t the one the Canadian manufacturer showed off at CANSEC in May.

A photo shared on X by NOAH tracking the company’s lineup shows a boxy, V-hulled mine-resistant vehicle that Roshel’s own website identifies as the Admiral MRAP, distinct from the Mamba, also known as the KF411, that Roshel displayed at this year’s CANSEC defense show in Ottawa.

The company has used the Admiral name before: its original lineup included a Kenworth-based Admiral alongside the Ford-based Senator, though the Kenworth version was reportedly discontinued after 2022 as the Senator became Roshel’s primary product in Ukraine. It is not clear from available information how this newly surfaced Admiral relates to that earlier Kenworth platform or to the KF411, which Roshel acquired from South Africa’s Panzer in 2024 and has also marketed under the Admiral name.

According to Roshel’s website, the current Admiral MRAP uses a V-shaped hull to redirect blast energy away from the crew compartment, a standard design feature on mine-resistant vehicles meant to reduce injuries from landmines and roadside bombs.

The vehicle runs on a 5.9-liter inline-six turbo diesel engine producing 240 horsepower and 597 lb-ft of torque, paired with a six-speed automatic transmission and four-wheel drive. It has a fuel capacity of up to 230 liters (61 gallons), giving it an operational range of up to 545 km (339 miles), and seats up to nine passengers plus two crew.

Roshel lists the Admiral’s protection at STANAG 4569 levels 2 and 2a/2b, meaning it is rated to withstand 7.62x39mm armor-piercing rounds fired from 30 meters, an 8 kg mine blast under any wheel position or the vehicle’s center, and a 155mm high-explosive artillery round detonating 80 meters away.

Roshel has built its reputation almost entirely around Ukraine’s war. The company has said it has delivered more than 2,500 Senator armored vehicles to Ukraine since 2022, making it the country’s largest single supplier of armored vehicles, and Canada has separately pledged hundreds more Senators as part of broader military aid packages. The Senator’s MRAP variant, built on a Ford F-550 chassis, remains the company’s primary product line and has been used in Ukraine for troop transport, medical evacuation, and mine-clearance support.

Roshel has also been expanding well beyond Ukraine. A U.S. federal agency, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, moved this month to buy an armored vehicle from Roshel’s U.S. subsidiary. The company showcased its Senator armored personnel carrier in Brazil at a public safety trade show in August, and it remains one of two finalists for a nearly $5 billion Canadian government contract to supply armored and unarmored utility vehicles. Roshel has also signed a vehicle-related deal with truck maker Daimler and is set to deliver more than 100 Senators to Moldova under a European Union assistance program.

At CANSEC 2026 in May, Roshel introduced several new platforms beyond the Senator and Admiral lines, including a vehicle called the LUV, the Canadian-built ExtremV, and a dedicated Senator medical evacuation variant, part of what the company described as an effort to expand its domestic manufacturing base under Canada’s Defence Industrial Strategy.